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Farmers Market area an option for proposed MAPS 4 soccer stadium

A proposed soccer/multi-use stadium is among several proposals being considered by the Oklahoma City Council for inclusion on MAPS 4. [Provided]

During Monday’s bonus OKC Central Live Chat, business writer Steve Lackmeyer was joined by Bob Funk Jr., co-owner of the OKC Energy FC, to discuss a multi-use soccer stadium being pitched for MAPS 4. Below is an abridged transcript of the discussion.

Bob, you have two options for consideration.

Funk: One is for $37 million to $42 million with about 8,000 seats and the capacity to do mid-level concerts on a regulation-size field that could host soccer, lacrosse, rugby and American football. It could also host state high school football championships, boxing events and cultural festivals.

The second is $67 million to $72 million option that increases it to 10,000 capacity for field events, 18,000 for concerts, and puts a roof or shade structure over the seating. And it provides for two stages, one for large concerts and one for more intimate events plus premium amenities for the fans.

What if we just want the shade structures from option two?

Funk: We're probably looking $10 million to $15 million for the shade structures alone. Both options give us the ability the expand if we need later on.

How long has the Energy FC been playing and how are they doing?

Funk: This is their sixth year to play in Oklahoma City. We've done well setting our non-regulation pitch at the side. But the team over all has continued to perform well on and off the field. Tim's and my goal is to put soccer on the map in Oklahoma City. We've seen our attendance dip since we began. After some exhaustive focus groups and surveys over the last two years, it was apparent that our number one challenge is our location at Taft Stadium.

Why?

Funk: The lack of other complementary pieces in and around the venue is a problem, parking is a problem, we don't have the ability to cook concessions in the venue. Ingress and egress is a problem. We don't have a regulation-size pitch and we have a track around our field which does not lend itself to an authentic soccer experience. The venue is a blank slate so we have to bring everything into that environment to make the experience what it is. And that limits you on the experience you can create.

Please specify why this stadium would be better for concerts than the Bricktown Ballpark.

Funk: We ran the ballpark at one point so we know its limitations. The ballpark is a hard venue to create the right kind of concert experience. With the way it is designed, if you want to maximize capacity, you have to put everything on the outfield, and it sets you too far in the outfield. And if you bring it too close to the infield, it reduces your capacity. It's also very hard to load in any large national touring event, and it's really expensive.

You have to bring most of the equipment over the wall by crane.

Who currently owns the land where the proposed stadium is being built?

Funk: First it has to make the MAPS 4 ballot. Once approved, it then goes the city council, it goes through consultants and a citizens advisory board for location designation.

If we go by history, especially with the Oklahoma City Dodgers and the ballpark, the owners have quite a bit of input on this matter. Do you have some top favorites?

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Funk: Obviously the Producers Cooperative Oil Mill property, we thought that would be a good location three years ago. We also think Wheeler Park is a good location. I like the (recently cleared) Exchange site south of Farmers Public Market. It's only seven acres. I like Strawberry Fields west of Scissortail Park if we could ever find a way to make it work.

We also looked at Wiley Post Park but access is the biggest issue there.

If I understand correctly, Mr. Funk, if you don’t get your way you plan to pack up and move the Energy team out of state. However, you’ve been full steam ahead the last few years able to cover the costs and have it handled without taxpayers' money. But now you’ve reversed course. Is this because the land you want is too expensive and now you’re seeking help? Were your previous plans false all along?

Funk: I've always been consistent in saying we were going to pursue a stadium somewhere in the core from the very beginning. And we always felt like MAPS is a good financing vehicle due to the public nature of the facility.

The most immediate pressing issue is the league and the United States Soccer Federation won't tolerate our current location any more due to the field size. We can't host U.S Open Cup games anymore. They won't let us host due to the size of the pitch.

We've been denied NCAA bids as it relates to soccer primarily due to the field.

Long-term, even outside the pitch and its size, Taft isn't a realistic or viable location for the type of multi-purpose venue we've proposed.

Some of us are concerned that the unpopularity of soccer in the US and the demanding nature of your proposal, (telling OKC it's time to step up and bailout your failing business) will cause the entirety of MAPS 4 to fail. ... People will view this as a chance to break the vicious stadium cycle for an entire sport before it begins. I for one will be voting no in December and hoping for simply raising the tax rate to the metro average at a later date.

Funk: There was a recent Nielson study done in our city in 2018 that stated from the OKC metro population of 1.5 million, 862,000 people identified themselves as soccer fans. That's over half of our population. In 2018, also, World Cup was the most searched term in our city according to Google, followed by the U.S. Women's National Team. Ratings for U.S. Women's World Cup broke all viewership records in 2018.

My personal opinion is we can't say soccer is unpopular in Oklahoma City.

MAPS has always been about future-focused leadership. And I believe soccer represents the sports vision for Oklahoma City and the United States in the near future.

I do not believe this will cause MAPS 4 to fail. We live in a democracy and people are allowed to vote their convictions and that is the great thing about a democracy. There are so many great proposals that can be possibly included in MAPS 4 that it would be, in my opinion, foolish to forego all of the other proposals simply because you don't prefer one specific proposal.

Why can’t the city buy Taft? Oklahoma City Public Schools could use the money to build a small high school stadium at Northwest Classen. The city could remove the track for turf and done — a city-owned soccer specific stadium. The immense savings could be used for shade structures and infrastructure for your other concerns.

Funk: Parking is an issue. You are within the demarcation line of schools and churches from a liquor licensing standpoint so you can't do any development of bars and restaurants around the venue. And that is what makes our current venue location unattractive.

It does not provide many of the amenities that people expect from a professional sports venue like the ballpark, like the Chesapeake Energy Arena. Access is not good.

Fans cheer after the Energy FC team scores against the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC at Taft Stadium in this July 2018 photo. [The Oklahoman Archives] A proposed soccer/multi-use stadium is among several proposals being considered by the Oklahoma City Council for inclusion on MAPS 4. [Provided]

Steve Lackmeyer

Steve Lackmeyer is a reporter, columnist and author who started his career at The Oklahoman in 1990. Since then, he has won numerous awards for his coverage, which included the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, the city's...
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